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16 Therefore Sarai, the wife of Abram, had not engendered [to him] free children; but she had a servantess of Egypt, Hagar by name, (And so Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him any children; but she had an Egyptian slave-girl, named Hagar,)

and Sarai said to her husband, Lo! the Lord hath closed me (up), (so) that I should not bear (a) child; enter thou [in]to my servantess, if in hap I shall take children, namely of her (and so enter thou to my slave-girl, and perhaps I shall have children through her). And when he assented to her praying,

she took Hagar (the) Egyptian, her servantess, after ten years after that they began to inhabit the land of Canaan, and she gave Hagar (as) [a] wife to her husband. (she took her slave-girl, Hagar the Egyptian, and she gave her as a wife to her husband; this was ten years after that they had begun to live in the land of Canaan.)

And Abram entered [in]to Hagar; and (soon) Hagar saw that she had conceived, and (then) she despised her lady.

And Sarai said to Abram, Thou doest wickedly against me; I gave my servantess into thy bosom, which seeth that she [hath] conceived, and (now she) despiseth me; the Lord deem betwixt me and thee. (And Sarai said to Abram, Thou doest wickedly against me; I gave my slave-girl into thy arms, and she seeth that she hath conceived, and now she despiseth me; the Lord judge between me and thee.)

And Abram answered and said to her, Lo! thy servantess is in thine hand; use thou her as thee liketh. Therefore for Sarai tormented her, she fled away. (And Abram answered and said to her, Lo! thy slave-girl is in thy hands; do thou with her as thou pleaseth. And so when Sarai tormented her, she fled away.)

And when the angel of the Lord had found her beside a well of water in (the) wilderness, which well is in the way of Shur in (the) desert,

he said to her, From whence comest thou Hagar, the servantess of Sarai (Sarai’s slave-girl), and whither goest thou? Which answered, I flee from the face of Sarai, my lady.

And the angel of the Lord said to her, Turn thou again to thy lady (Return to thy lady), and be thou meeked under her hands.

10 And again he said, I multiplying shall multiply thy seed, and it shall not be numbered for multitude. (And again he said, I multiplying shall multiply thy descendants, and they shall not be able to be counted for all their multitude.)

11 And afterward he said (And then he said), Lo! thou hast conceived, and thou shalt bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, for the Lord hath heard thy torment;

12 this shall be a wild man; his hand shall be against all men, and the hands of all men shall be against him; and he shall set (his) tabernacles even against all his brethren (and he shall be at odds with all of his kinsmen).

13 Forsooth Hagar called the name of the Lord that spake to her, Thou God that sawest me; for she said, Forsooth here I saw the hinder things of him that saw me. (And Hagar called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, Thou God who sawest me; for she said, Here I saw him who saw me, and I still lived.)

14 Therefore she called that well, The well of him that liveth and seeth me (And that is why people call that well The Well of Lahairoi, or Beerlahairoi); (and) that well is betwixt Kadesh and Bered.

15 And (so) Hagar childed a son to Abram, which called his name Ishmael (and he named him Ishmael).

16 Abram was eighty years and six, when Hagar childed Ishmael to him. (Abram was eighty-six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael for him.)

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai,(A) Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.(B) But she had an Egyptian slave(C) named Hagar;(D) so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children.(E) Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”(F)

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan(G) ten years,(H) Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar,(I) and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.(J) Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”(K)

“Your slave is in your hands,(L)” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated(M) Hagar; so she fled from her.

The angel of the Lord(N) found Hagar near a spring(O) in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.(P) And he said, “Hagar,(Q) slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”(R)

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”(S)

11 The angel of the Lord(T) also said to her:

“You are now pregnant
    and you will give birth to a son.(U)
You shall name him(V) Ishmael,[a](W)
    for the Lord has heard of your misery.(X)
12 He will be a wild donkey(Y) of a man;
    his hand will be against everyone
    and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
    toward[b] all his brothers.(Z)

13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,(AA)” for she said, “I have now seen[c] the One who sees me.”(AB) 14 That is why the well(AC) was called Beer Lahai Roi[d];(AD) it is still there, between Kadesh(AE) and Bered.

15 So Hagar(AF) bore Abram a son,(AG) and Abram gave the name Ishmael(AH) to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old(AI) when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 16:11 Ishmael means God hears.
  2. Genesis 16:12 Or live to the east / of
  3. Genesis 16:13 Or seen the back of
  4. Genesis 16:14 Beer Lahai Roi means well of the Living One who sees me.

16 Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.

But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.

And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

10 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

11 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.

12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

13 And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.